Marty Feldman
Encyclopedia
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was an English
comedy writer
, comedian
and actor
who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show
, and Marty
, which won two BAFTA awards
and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young Frankenstein
.
, the son of Jewish immigrants from Kiev
. He recalled his childhood as "solitary".
A BBC documentary also explained that an operation due to his Graves' disease
resulted in his eyes being more protruded, together with a Squint (Strabismus). Leaving school at 15, he worked at the Dreamland
fun fair in Margate
. By the age of 20, he had decided to pursue a career as a comedian
.
. They wrote situation comedies
such as The Army Game
and Bootsie and Snudge
for British television
, and the BBC radio show Round the Horne
, which starred Kenneth Horne
and Kenneth Williams
. This put Feldman and Took "in the front rank of comedy writers" (Denis Norden
).
The television sketch comedy
series At Last the 1948 Show
featured Feldman's first screen performances. The other three performers - Graham Chapman
, Tim Brooke-Taylor
(later of The Goodies
comedy trio) and John Cleese
- needed a fourth and had Feldman in mind. In one sketch on 1 March 1967, Feldman's character harassed a patient shop assistant (played by Cleese) for a series of fictitious books, achieving success with Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying. The sketch was revived as part of the Monty Python
stage show and on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (both without Feldman).
Feldman was co-author, along with Cleese, Chapman and Brooke-Taylor of the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch
, which was also written for At Last the 1948 Show
. The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch was performed during Amnesty International
concerts (by members of Monty Python — once including Rowan Atkinson
in place of Python member Eric Idle
), as well as during Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
and other Monty Python shows and recordings. This association has led to the common misconception that the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch was a Python sketch, with the origin and co-authorship by non-Python writers Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor overlooked or forgotten. Feldman was also script editor on The Frost Report
with future members of Monty Python. He wrote the much-repeated Class sketch
, in which Cleese, Ronnie Barker
and Ronnie Corbett
faced the audience, with their descending order of height suggesting their relative social status as upper class (Cleese), middle class (Barker) and working class (Corbett).
Following his At Last the 1948 Show
, Feldman was given his own series on the BBC
called Marty
(1968); it featured Brooke-Taylor, John Junkin
and Roland MacLeod
, with Cleese as one of the writers. Feldman won two BAFTA awards. The second series in 1969 was renamed It's Marty (the second title being retained for the DVD of the show); in 1971 he was signed to a series co-produced by ATV
and ABC TV
entitled The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
; this show lasted one season. In 1974, Dennis Main Wilson
(producer for the UK
television show Till Death Us Do Part) produced a short sketch series for Feldman on the BBC entitled Marty Back Together Again — a reference to reports about the star's health. But this never captured the impact of the earlier series. The Marty series proved popular enough with an international audience (the first series won the Golden Rose Award at Montreux) to launch a film career. His first feature role was in 1970's Every Home Should Have One.
Feldman spent time in Soho jazz
clubs. He found a parallel between "riffing" in a comedy partnership and the improvisation of jazz.
In 1971 Feldman gave evidence in favour of the defendants in the Oz trial. He would not swear on the Bible, choosing to affirm. Throughout his testimony he was disrespectful to the judge after it was implied that he had no religion for not being Christian.
Feldman's performances on American television included The Dean Martin Show
and Marty Feldman's Comedy Machine. On film, he was Igor in Young Frankenstein
where many lines were improvised. Gene Wilder
says he had Feldman in mind when he wrote the part. At one point, Dr Frankenstein (Wilder) scolds Igor with the phrase, "Damn your eyes!" Feldman turns to the camera, points to his misaligned eyes, grins and says, "Too late!"
Feldman met American comedy writer Alan Spencer
on the set of Young Frankenstein when Spencer was a teenager. Spencer was a fan of Feldman as a writer and performer. Feldman offered Spencer guidance that led him to create the television show Sledge Hammer!
He also made one LP, I Feel a Song Going Off (1969), re-released as The Crazy World of Marty Feldman. The songs were written by Dennis King, John Junkin and Bill Solly (a writer for Max Bygraves
and The Two Ronnies
). It was re-released as a CD in 2007.
In 1976, Feldman ventured into Italian cinema
, starring with Barbara Bouchet
in 40 gradi all'ombra del lenzuolo (Sex with a Smile
), a sex comedy
. He appeared in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
and Mel Brooks
' Silent Movie
, as well as directing and starring in The Last Remake of Beau Geste
. He guest-starred in the "Arabian Nights" episode of The Muppet Show
with several Sesame Street
characters.
Marty Feldman had a younger sister, Pamela. Contrary to certain rumours he was not related to actress Fenella Fielding
(née Feldman).
in a hotel room in Mexico City
on 2 December 1982, during the making of the film Yellowbeard
. On the DVD commentary of Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks
cites factors that may have contributed to Feldman's death: He smoked sometimes six packs of cigarettes daily, drank copious amounts of coffee, and ate a diet rich in eggs and dairy products. Michael Mileham, who made the behind-the-scenes movie Group Madness about the making of Yellowbeard, said he and Feldman swam to an island where a local was selling lobster and coconuts. Mileham and Feldman used the same knife on their lobsters. Mileham claimed he got shellfish poisoning
the next day, and theorised that as Feldman had used the same knife he also could have been poisoned.
In an anecdotal story, cartoonist Sergio Aragonés
was also filming nearby in a different production. While dressed for his role as an armed policeman, Aragonés abruptly encountered Feldman and, in introducing himself, frightened Feldman. Aragonés speculates that this possibly induced Feldman's fatal heart attack later in the evening. Aragonés has recounted the story with the punchline, "I killed Marty Feldman". The story was converted into a strip in Aragonés's issue of DC Comics
' Solo.
He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
near his idol, Buster Keaton
, in the Garden of Heritage.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
comedy writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
, and Marty
Marty (TV series)
Marty is a British television sketch comedy series, with Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Junkin, Roland MacLeod, Mary Miller and Peter Pocock which was made in 1968...
, which won two BAFTA awards
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard...
.
Early life
Feldman was born in the East End of LondonEast End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, the son of Jewish immigrants from Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. He recalled his childhood as "solitary".
A BBC documentary also explained that an operation due to his Graves' disease
Graves' disease
Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease where the thyroid is overactive, producing an excessive amount of thyroid hormones...
resulted in his eyes being more protruded, together with a Squint (Strabismus). Leaving school at 15, he worked at the Dreamland
Dreamland Margate
Dreamland Margate is an amusement park located in Margate, Kent, England. It is currently owned by Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company and is closed to the public...
fun fair in Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
. By the age of 20, he had decided to pursue a career as a comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
.
Career
In 1954, Feldman formed a writing partnership with Barry TookBarry Took
Barry Took was an English comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best remembered in the UK for his weekly role as presenter of Points of View, a BBC TV programme in which viewers' letters criticising or praising the BBC were broadcast...
. They wrote situation comedies
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
such as The Army Game
The Army Game
The Army Game is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1957 to 1961. Made in black-and-white, it is about National Service conscription to the post-war British Army. It was created by Sid Colin...
and Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge was a British television situation comedy series written, in the early days, by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, later writers were John Antrobus, Jack Rosenthal, ventriloquist Ray Alan and Harry Driver. The show featured Clive Dunn, more famous as Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as...
for British television
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
, and the BBC radio show Round the Horne
Round the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
, which starred Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
and Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
. This put Feldman and Took "in the front rank of comedy writers" (Denis Norden
Denis Norden
Denis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
).
The television sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
featured Feldman's first screen performances. The other three performers - Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
, Tim Brooke-Taylor
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE is an English comic actor. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at Cambridge University, and became President of the Footlights club, touring internationally with the Footlights revue in 1964...
(later of The Goodies
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
comedy trio) and John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
- needed a fourth and had Feldman in mind. In one sketch on 1 March 1967, Feldman's character harassed a patient shop assistant (played by Cleese) for a series of fictitious books, achieving success with Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying. The sketch was revived as part of the Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
stage show and on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (both without Feldman).
Feldman was co-author, along with Cleese, Chapman and Brooke-Taylor of the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch
Four Yorkshiremen sketch
The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is a parody of nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. Four Yorkshiremen reminisce about their upbringing, and as the conversation progresses, they try to outdo one another, their accounts of deprived childhoods becoming increasingly...
, which was also written for At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
. The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch was performed during Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
concerts (by members of Monty Python — once including Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
in place of Python member Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
), as well as during Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl is a 1982 concert film in which the Monty Python team perform many of their greatest sketches at the Hollywood Bowl. The show also included filmed inserts which were mostly taken from two Monty Python specials, Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus, which had been...
and other Monty Python shows and recordings. This association has led to the common misconception that the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch was a Python sketch, with the origin and co-authorship by non-Python writers Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor overlooked or forgotten. Feldman was also script editor on The Frost Report
The Frost Report
The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It ran for 29 episodes from 1966 to 1967. It is most notable for introducing John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett to television and also launching the careers of several comedians and performers.The main cast were...
with future members of Monty Python. He wrote the much-repeated Class sketch
Class sketch
The Class sketch is a comedy sketch first broadcast in an episode of David Frost's satirical comedy programme The Frost Report on 7 April 1966. It has been described as a "genuinely timeless sketch, ingeniously satirising the British class system" and in 2005 was voted number 40 in Channel Four's...
, in which Cleese, Ronnie Barker
Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
and Ronnie Corbett
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
faced the audience, with their descending order of height suggesting their relative social status as upper class (Cleese), middle class (Barker) and working class (Corbett).
Following his At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
, Feldman was given his own series on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
called Marty
Marty (TV series)
Marty is a British television sketch comedy series, with Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Junkin, Roland MacLeod, Mary Miller and Peter Pocock which was made in 1968...
(1968); it featured Brooke-Taylor, John Junkin
John Junkin
John Francis Junkin was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows Can't Sing...
and Roland MacLeod
Roland MacLeod
Roland MacLeod was an English actor of film and television.He appeared as a vicar in John Cleese's film A Fish Called Wanda and The Last Remake of Beau Geste....
, with Cleese as one of the writers. Feldman won two BAFTA awards. The second series in 1969 was renamed It's Marty (the second title being retained for the DVD of the show); in 1971 he was signed to a series co-produced by ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
and ABC TV
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
entitled The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was a 1971 comedy-variety sketch show starring British comedian, Marty Feldman. Co-produced by ABC TV in America and ATV in England and filmed at Elstree Studios, it featured opening and closing credits by Terry Gilliam, as well as featuring guest appearances by...
; this show lasted one season. In 1974, Dennis Main Wilson
Dennis Main Wilson
Dennis Main Wilson was a British producer of radio and television programmes, mainly for the BBC.-Biography:...
(producer for the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television show Till Death Us Do Part) produced a short sketch series for Feldman on the BBC entitled Marty Back Together Again — a reference to reports about the star's health. But this never captured the impact of the earlier series. The Marty series proved popular enough with an international audience (the first series won the Golden Rose Award at Montreux) to launch a film career. His first feature role was in 1970's Every Home Should Have One.
Feldman spent time in Soho jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
clubs. He found a parallel between "riffing" in a comedy partnership and the improvisation of jazz.
In 1971 Feldman gave evidence in favour of the defendants in the Oz trial. He would not swear on the Bible, choosing to affirm. Throughout his testimony he was disrespectful to the judge after it was implied that he had no religion for not being Christian.
Feldman's performances on American television included The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...
and Marty Feldman's Comedy Machine. On film, he was Igor in Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard...
where many lines were improvised. Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
says he had Feldman in mind when he wrote the part. At one point, Dr Frankenstein (Wilder) scolds Igor with the phrase, "Damn your eyes!" Feldman turns to the camera, points to his misaligned eyes, grins and says, "Too late!"
Feldman met American comedy writer Alan Spencer
Alan Spencer
Alan Spencer is an American television writer and producer, known for creating the 1980s satirical police series Sledge Hammer!. He was one of the youngest people ever to join the Writers Guild of America, writing for television at the age of fifteen...
on the set of Young Frankenstein when Spencer was a teenager. Spencer was a fan of Feldman as a writer and performer. Feldman offered Spencer guidance that led him to create the television show Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character,...
He also made one LP, I Feel a Song Going Off (1969), re-released as The Crazy World of Marty Feldman. The songs were written by Dennis King, John Junkin and Bill Solly (a writer for Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves OBE is an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs...
and The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...
). It was re-released as a CD in 2007.
In 1976, Feldman ventured into Italian cinema
Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
, starring with Barbara Bouchet
Barbara Bouchet
Barbara Bouchet, is a German-American actress and entrepreneur.She has acted in more than 80 films and television episodes and founded a production company that has produced fitness videos and books as well as owning a fitness studio...
in 40 gradi all'ombra del lenzuolo (Sex with a Smile
Sex with a Smile
Sex with a Smile is a 1976 Italian comedy film starring Marty Feldman, Barbara Bouchet, Edwige Fenech, Dayle Haddon and directed by Sergio Martino....
), a sex comedy
Sex comedy
Sex comedy is a term for comedy movies with sexual content usually referring to those made in the United Kingdom in the mid 1970s. They may range from comic pornographic films like the Confessions series to relatively innocent comedies that include jokes about sex and other sexual related humour,...
. He appeared in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
and Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
' Silent Movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
, as well as directing and starring in The Last Remake of Beau Geste
The Last Remake of Beau Geste
The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historical comedy film. It starred and was also directed and co-written by Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is...
. He guest-starred in the "Arabian Nights" episode of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
with several Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
characters.
Personal life
Feldman was married to Lauretta Sullivan (29 September 1935 – 12 March 2010) from January 1959 until his death in 1982. She died at age 74 in Studio City, California, according to a story published in the Los Angeles Times on April 15, 2010.Marty Feldman had a younger sister, Pamela. Contrary to certain rumours he was not related to actress Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
(née Feldman).
Death
Feldman died from a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in a hotel room in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
on 2 December 1982, during the making of the film Yellowbeard
Yellowbeard
Yellowbeard is a 1983 comedy film by Graham Chapman, along with Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna and David Sherlock. It was directed by Mel Damski, and was Marty Feldman's last film appearance.-Plot:...
. On the DVD commentary of Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
cites factors that may have contributed to Feldman's death: He smoked sometimes six packs of cigarettes daily, drank copious amounts of coffee, and ate a diet rich in eggs and dairy products. Michael Mileham, who made the behind-the-scenes movie Group Madness about the making of Yellowbeard, said he and Feldman swam to an island where a local was selling lobster and coconuts. Mileham and Feldman used the same knife on their lobsters. Mileham claimed he got shellfish poisoning
Shellfish poisoning
There are four syndromes called shellfish poisoning, which share some common features and are primarily associated with bivalve molluscs...
the next day, and theorised that as Feldman had used the same knife he also could have been poisoned.
In an anecdotal story, cartoonist Sergio Aragonés
Sergio Aragonés
Sergio Aragonés Domenech is a cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to Mad Magazine and creator of the comic book Groo the Wanderer....
was also filming nearby in a different production. While dressed for his role as an armed policeman, Aragonés abruptly encountered Feldman and, in introducing himself, frightened Feldman. Aragonés speculates that this possibly induced Feldman's fatal heart attack later in the evening. Aragonés has recounted the story with the punchline, "I killed Marty Feldman". The story was converted into a strip in Aragonés's issue of DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Solo.
He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
near his idol, Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
, in the Garden of Heritage.
Filmography
- The Bed-Sitting RoomThe Bed-Sitting Room (film)The Bed-Sitting Room is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Richard Lester and based on the play of the same name. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1969) - Every Home Should Have OneEvery Home Should Have OneEvery Home Should Have One is a 1970 British comedy film directed by Jim Clark and starring Marty Feldman, Judy Cornwell, Patrick Cargill, Penelope Keith and Julie Ege. An advertising man is tasked by his boss with trying to come up with a sexy new image for porridge...
(1970) - Young FrankensteinYoung FrankensteinYoung Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard...
(1974) - The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975) - Silent MovieSilent MovieSilent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
(1976) - 40 gradi all'ombra del lenzuolo (Sex With a Smile) (1976)
- The Last Remake of Beau GesteThe Last Remake of Beau GesteThe Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historical comedy film. It starred and was also directed and co-written by Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is...
(1977) - In God We Tru$tIn God We Tru$tIn God We Tru$t is a comedy film starring Marty Feldman, Louise Lasser and Peter Boyle. A biting religious satire, it was also produced, directed, and co-written by Marty Feldman.This was Andy Kaufman's first major role in a motion picture...
(1980) - Slapstick of Another KindSlapstick of Another Kind (film)Slapstick of Another Kind is an American comedy film. It was filmed in 1982, and released in March 1984 by both The S. Paul Company/Serendipity Entertainment Releasing Company and International Film Marketing...
(1982) - YellowbeardYellowbeardYellowbeard is a 1983 comedy film by Graham Chapman, along with Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna and David Sherlock. It was directed by Mel Damski, and was Marty Feldman's last film appearance.-Plot:...
(1983)
Television series
- At Last the 1948 ShowAt Last the 1948 ShowAt Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
(1967) - MartyMarty (TV series)Marty is a British television sketch comedy series, with Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Junkin, Roland MacLeod, Mary Miller and Peter Pocock which was made in 1968...
(1968) - Marty Amok (1970)
- Marty Abroad (1971)
- The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971–1972)
- The Marty Feldman Show (1972)
- Marty Back Together Again (1974)
- The Muppet ShowThe Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(1981)
Further reading
- From Fringe to Flying Circus—Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980 — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.
External links
- Marty Feldman - Comedy Zone
- Laughterlog.com - article with complete list of television series and discography
- Angels Don't Swear - a tribute to Marty Feldman presented by Gene WilderGene WilderGene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
- requires RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:... - MySpace Tribute Page